


i guess you're attractive, or something

by DroppedAllTheseOreos



Category: Kamen Rider Ex-Aid
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Out of Character, i'd say self indulgent but this is more of a brainworm that i needed to put somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22906990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DroppedAllTheseOreos/pseuds/DroppedAllTheseOreos
Summary: Graphite has trouble with words when it comes to Kiriya.
Relationships: Graphite/Kujou Kiriya
Comments: 10
Kudos: 7
Collections: Oreos' Fanfic Gauntlets





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is lyrics from Flaming Hot Cheetos by Clario
> 
> I recently got to try both of the main Sakeru Gummy flavors (green and red grape), in the short and long versions, and the short versions have some gummies with space to write on the packaging, so on top of MarineHaddock finishing Long Long Dan for me, I felt inspired. Also go check out [Long Long Dan,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21284327/chapters/50680328) it's the most chaotic fic I've ever loved.
> 
> This piece is sadly nothing like Long Long Dan, though, lol. I just need to yeet it into the atmosphere to make more room in my brain.

Something slid across the breakroom table, hitting Graphite in the elbow. He looked up from the Genmboy Parad had given him to protect and saw the offender was a little, rectangular piece of plastic with something green and ridged inside. Across it was the words "amusement park tomorrow?" scrawled in permanent marker with a little heart beneath. He picked it up and flipped it, the words "Sakeru Gummy" in cute bubbly font stared back at him.

He looked across the table where Kiriya, Emu, and Poppy were all sitting. It could've come from any of them, but only one made sense. The one who apparently decided right now was the perfect time to confirm their date plans for tomorrow.

"Oi, kinda cheap, don't you think?" he shook the candy in Kiriya's direction, "If you wanna ask me out, at least you have time to do it proper with chocolate."

Kiriya just grinned. "I can give you the rest of the pack if it'll make you feel better." he pulled it out and slid it towards Graphite. The packaging was vibrant with images of green grapes and bubble font across it. "I saw there was space to write on the back of one and it made me think of you."

Graphite pouted in a way he thought was playful, "And this is all you wanted to tell me?"

"The heart wasn't enough?"

Graphite didn't have a good response to that and just tore into one of the gummies from the pack.

"Pick me up here at 8. Don't wanna get held up because of the crowds or anything," he said around the gummy. It was a little powdery but the sweet-sour burst of grape flavor over his tongue was refreshing. The whole thing was cute. It was embarrassing to admit but Kiriya was being cute.

Kiriya grinned and winked at him before turning back to his conversation with Emu and Poppy. Graphite wasn't sure, but he swore he saw some apprehension in the set of his shoulders and the briefest furrowing of his brow.

Graphite figured it must've been nerves over their first proper Valentine's together. Last year was ruined by Kuroto breaking out and the two of them being the only ones available and apparently competent enough to subdue and babysit him until Poppy could arrive with a better containment system. (Read: the Ministry of Health installed better firewalls to a separate Bugvisor. It was about damn time they let Poppy's free from prison duty.) Graphite didn't really pay Kiriya and the others any mind until he'd finished the pack of gummies. The only one left was the one Kiriya wrote on. He considered eating that one, too, but pocketed it instead. In a way, it was kind of precious and he wanted to save it.

* * *

The next day Kiriya showed up with a small box of chocolates, making Graphite blink confusedly.

"I thought you wanted a proper Valentine's present." He shrugged with a little grin.

Graphite took the box tentatively. "Sorry. The gummies were actually. Um... They were fine."

"Just fine though?" Kiriya asked and that little worried furrow between his brows was back, fuck.

"Yeah, of course." Graphite huffed. "You didn't need to go out of your way."

"Well, you asked for it and I wanted to so...? Sorry, they're not super fancy or anything."

"No it's fine. These are good. Thanks.” Graphite bit his lip. He wasn't exactly sure how to say that he liked Kiriya's first gesture better. It was very him. Well, he just thought of the words then and there but they seemed to catch in his throat. Plus, he appreciated the chocolates. They seemed fancy and nice and he would definitely enjoy them later but he didn't know why it was so hard to just tell Kiriya how he felt. "I just..." He swallowed hard. "Um, never mind. We can eat these together when we get there or something."

Kiriya looked worried for a moment longer, but put his resting smile back in place and gestured to the door with his head. "Let's go then."

Graphite nodded and followed him out of the hospital.

The trip to the amusement park went relatively well from there on out. While they could've just teleported together, Kiriya wanted to go like they were normal humans, and Graphite eventually went along when he saw how insistent Kiriya was on it. He didn't have very strong opinions often. If no one had ideas he could often offer up suggestions of where to go for hangouts, going with the flow if there was something Graphite or others wanted, but he was never really resolute on anything like this. It struck Graphite as something he should let him have.

He could sort of understand the appeal of traveling by train, and their hands held tight in the crowds to stick together as they walked from the station to the platform. And on one of the longer train rides, they ate the little box of chocolates together once the car cleared out as they neared the end of the line. Kiriya insisted on being embarrassing and fed him one of the chocolates by hand. Graphite got him back, but in the end, it probably affected him more than it did Kiriya, since he pulled the sweet from Graphite’s fingers with a flirty smile.

Kiriya looked so in his element while they were weaving through crowds, standing close in the train cars, or sitting, pressed side to side, in the seats as the cars emptied out. He probably missed it, and Graphite wouldn't mind talking public transit more if he could see him like this.

In the nearly empty train car, Graphite wanted to tell that to him. Whisper to him he smiled differently, brighter, and it looked good on him. Hold his hand and offer to walk to their dates more often. He got to the holding hands part, and not anything more. Glancing around the car, his eyes landed on other humans. None of them were paying attention, but he suddenly felt self-conscious about saying such sappy things in the presence of strangers. He just squeezed Kiriya's hand tighter instead, drawing his attention. Kiriya looked up at him expectantly, but when he didn't say anything, he just offered up a small smile and leaned on Graphite's shoulder until their stop.

As they walked to the park from the station, Graphite couldn't help but beat himself up. This was literally the easiest thing in the world, and he kept getting stopped by himself of all things. Weren't he and Kiriya dating? Hadn't they been for a year now? This should be easy.

It made him think about the past year they'd been together, and he was slowly realizing he didn't really say things to Kiriya. Compliments and all that stuff. When they were in private, just the two of them in the new apartment CR helped Kiriya get, he could say "I love you" and comment on things about Kiriya that were endearing with less embarrassment. It was still hard, and he didn't do it all that often, but it was nothing like the burning shame he'd feel openly saying things like that. He'd hold hands, sit close to him, even rest his head on Kiriya's shoulder, practically wrapped around him, and kiss him in public, but words became almost impossible with others around.

He didn't know how Kiriya did it. He was so fluid, finding his feet easily in almost any environment he got dropped in. He could say sweet nothings or "I love yous" and all kinds of other sappy stuff with no problem, or just the slightest flush on his cheeks. Why were they even together if he couldn't reciprocate this simple thing after more than a year?

"Hey, Graph?"

Graphite's attention locked back onto Kiriya. "What?"

Kiriya blinked, surprisedly. "You okay?"

Graphite looked around and saw Kiriya had pulled them to the side, people rushed around them to their left, their reflections flitting around in the glass of a convenience store window to their right. "'M fine." He grunted.

"You sure? Because if I did something wrong we can—"

"You didn't." Graphite squeezed Kiriya's hand reassuringly, flinching at how harsh his own tone came out. He cleared his throat and awkwardly repeated, "You didn't," much softer this time.

Kiriya watched him for a while, quietly assessing, a little concern in his eyes, but he tried to smile encouragingly after seemingly figuring out whatever he was looking for. "Okay." He said softly. "Just lemme know if anything comes up, yeah?"

Graphite nodded and Kiriya squeezed their hands as they started walking again, getting caught up in the flow of people.

* * *

The rest of the day went on well. Not great, or amazing, or anything else Graphite would use to describe a date with Kiriya. Even their last Valentine's was more exciting, even fun, chasing Kuroto through the city and fighting through the haphazardly put together game he made to trap them to buy himself time. Today, both of their energy was off somehow. Kiriya kept holding himself back, overly asking how Graphite was doing and if he wanted to do something else. He seemed anxious, and that was so uncharacteristic it put Graphite on edge. And the whole time, he wanted to say things, like how he missed Kiriya's laugh the whole date, or how he was really brave through the haunted house even if he clung tight to Graphite's arm the whole time, answer him that, yes, something was wrong and it was his inability to be a good boyfriend and just say what was on his mind without embarrassment, or maybe finally tell him that the Sakeru Gummy thing was cute and he was cute and he was stupid for not being able to say it for this long.

At the end of the day, they were leaning on a railing overlooking the ocean together, eating crepes from a nearby booth. The air was still awkward between them and neither of them seemed to know what to say.

"Hey y'know—" "I keep thinking—" they started at the same time

"Sorry—" Graphite scowled at himself, but Kiriya just waved a go-ahead. This was it, this was his chance to say everything that had been stewing in him for the whole day but he just opened his mouth and sighed. "No, you go first..."

Kiriya worried his lip. "I feel like I messed up somewhere and I'm not really sure where it was. But whatever it was I'm sorr—"

Graphite shook his head violently and yelled, "You're cute! You're really cute and I don't know why it's so hard to say that. I loved the gummies," he pulled the one with the heart on it out of his pocket, thrusting it towards Kiriya. "I kept this because I really liked it, and I feel like the whole day's been weird because of me because I can't just say what's in my head and I feel like a really bad boyfriend."

Kiriya blinked rapidly. "So you...? Graphite..." He sighed fondly. "Here," He held his hand out and Graphite stared at him blankly for a while before finally putting it all together and placed the gummy in his hand. Kiriya opened the wrapper with his free hand and teeth, being careful to leave the writing intact before handing that back to Graphite. He pocketed it, and Kiriya held out the gummy, and Graphite took the other side, so they could tear it in half together.

"I was so worried I really fucked up or something." Kiriya laughed. "You looked so tense all day."

"You're not upset? I made you feel bad over the candies 'cuz I was just kidding. I thought it was sweet but you seemed nervous, and I've been thinking of you all. day. I have all these things I wanted to tell you, but I just couldn't because I was too embarrassed with just. The concept of people around. I thought you might be upset because I can't fucking communicate that I love you, but I do." he said in a rush.

Kiriya slid over to press their sides together huffing a little laugh, finally closing the metaphorical gap they'd had for the whole day. "Yeah, some better verbal communication would've been nice. You're so stoic when you joke around so it's hard to tell sometimes. And we can always work on that, like me recognizing when you are, and getting confirmation. But Graph, I know you love me. I might not always know what you're specifically saying, but when you hold my hand or let me lean on you, I get the gist of it. You're not the most verbal person and it's okay. There are other ways to tell you care." He grinned and slipped the gummy into his mouth.

Graphite felt his heart clench at the words and stared down at the crepe, ice cream inside it melting all over his hand, and the gummy in the other. He put it in his mouth and that same refreshing burst of sour-sweet coated his tongue as he chewed. With his now free hand, he took Kiriya's and squeezed, trying to put all his feeling into it. And this time, when Kiriya looked over with a big grin, he knew he understood. They'd work it out.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Graphite!"

The dragon turned to see Kiriya in a casual business suit with a long Sakeru Gummy in hand. He instinctively tried to stifle his laughter as Kiriya threw his leg up on one of the breakroom chairs dramatically and tried to rip the package open in one smooth motion.

The plastic tore too soon and he had to fumble with the top a little, getting it open wide enough to slide the gummy out. He pulled it out part of the way, but it seemed to be stuck somewhere in the middle. The candy stretched and thinned where it was coming out of the package.

"How does he get it so—?"

At that moment, the candy snapped, slapping Kiriya in the face. He grunted in surprise and Graphite finally let out a cackle. He felt a little bad but it was funny. Kiriya didn't seem to mind either, since he laughed, too, before going back to trying to recreate the commercials. He stuck the torn-off chunk in his mouth, leaving it hanging from his lips as he went back to tugging on the rest of the gummy. With some effort, he finally managed to yank it out of the packaging and started to rip the gummy in half.

Graphite just snorted and tried not to hide his laughter as Kiriya pulled apart whatever was left of the candy. He was nowhere near as smooth or elegant as Long Long Man but he managed to get it in half, almost getting whacked in the face again as the ends of the candy swung free from each other. But he managed to lean away in time, a goofy expression as he dodged, making Graphite laugh more. With the gummy finally split, he approached Graphite and handed him half.

Graphite took it, gathering it up into one hand before smirking playfully. "You know..."

Kiriya quirked an eyebrow as he started sliding the piece between his teeth further into his mouth. He tilted his head curiously and stopped, making Graphite huff a little relieved breath through his nose.

"I don't think it's very fair that you get that whole piece that ripped off to yourself. If this is my Valentine's Day present shouldn't I get at least half?"

A wide grin spread across Kiriya's face and he lowered his lids to gaze at Graphite with a joking smolder. "Then come 'n get it, big guy." He said through his teeth.

Graphite leaned in and bit the part still hanging from Kiriya's mouth, chewing and swallowing it down easily before coming back to kiss him again, teasing his tongue in deeper this time. They started to move against each other, and Graphite felt the other half of the gummy. He smirked against Kiriya's mouth and tried to steal the piece from him. Kiriya exhaled sharply through his nose, hands gripping tighter to Graphite as they fought for the candy with tongues and teeth. Graphite bit down hard and managed to get Kiriya to yelp, letting his long, reptilian tongue wrap around the candy and slide it into his mouth, taking a few steps back to ensure he got it with a triumphant grin. Kiriya ran and jumped on him, trying to get it back, but mainly going in for more kisses. And Graphite wrapped his arms around him, hoisting him up to reach his mouth and meet his challenge head-on.

Graphite ended up accidentally winning by swallowing the candy while they were more preoccupied with making out. He broke away from Kiriya with a surprised grunt and Kiriya just looked at him with wide eyes for a second before he was cackling hysterically. Graphite blinked a few times, still shaken that he'd just swallowed it like that, but let himself chuckle as well.

"Well, this is just sad now. I didn't get any of that." Kiriya grinned up at him.

Graphite quirked an eyebrow, pointedly looking at Kiriya's half of the sakeru gummy on the floor. Kiriya followed his gaze and looked back with a sarcastic expression.

"Dude, it's a hospital floor, there's no way I'm eating... oh wait, you're right, I can eat it."

He looked a little disgusted, still, but it was slowly turning more and more into consideration to just do it for the hell of it, rather than out of an actual desire for the candy.

"Y'know, the taste of this one was a little too sweet for me." Graphite spoke up before Kiriya could think about it more, if he wasn't gonna go for it, there were more productive things they could do with their time.

Kiriya knelt down to pick up the gummy and balled it up before chucking it into the garbage bin in the corner of the room, "You liked the green ones better?"

Graphite shrugged. "Yeah, but there's something else I'd rather devour right now."

A little flush bloomed on Kiriya's cheeks, but he tilted his head, signature confident smirk in place, eyes half-lidded. "Well..." He chuckled. "Come and get it, then."

With a grin of his own, Graphite tackled him and they disappeared together in a burst of pixels, landing on the floor of Kiriya's apartment. Graphite took a moment to admire Kiriya under him before diving in to capture his mouth again.


End file.
